Saturday, July 30, 2011 To the Airport

It’s been a long time since I have been at the airport. In the interim, I have been working on getting John’s Cessna 172 annualed, and when I arrived I saw that it was done and back in the hanger, all clean and shiny. It was tempting to jump in and take it for a spin (never say “spin” to a pilot!). But without insurance, a current BFR, and medical, it would be tempting fate, and very illegal. There has been many other things in my life that have gotten in the way of the Jetwing rebuild project, but this Saturday was the first day I could see my way clear to go there. I’m sure my Kawasaki engine friend, Richard, wonders to where I’ve disappeared. I need to call him and update him on the project status.

But there has been progress. I got the nosewheel assembly back from Herm’s Welding and it looks like the throttle cable I ordered will work well as a foot-feed. The plan is for the foot-feed to override the hand control, if all works well.

Today I spent time on the wing. I reattached the nose section, attached the hang bracket, and other miscellaneous stuff. I inspected the wing cable attachment to make sure they were fully engaged, which they were. One disappointment, though, was that I could not get the wing entirely inflated. I don’t know what’s hanging up the tensioner, but something is preventing it from full extension, and therefore I could not attach the tensioner to the keel bracket. Inflating the wing was not my primary objective for the day, so I’m not concerned about this since I have inflated the wing since replacing the damaged parts, so I know it’s a minor problem.

In the course of working on the wing, I noticed that the hang point bracket is slightly bent from the accident. I removed it and will take it to Herm’s Welding for straightening, along with the front downtube bracket that is also slightly bent and requires straightening. I also removed the control bar cables which were severed by the EMT’s but that I had spliced. It’s time to replace them rather than try to repair them. I don’t want to worry about them later, particularly when I'm at 1000 feet.

All in all, I am pleased with my accomplishments today, although as usual I didn’t get as much done as I had planned.